Edible coatings and films have been researched for more than three decades due to their ability to be incorporated with different functional ingredients or compounds as an option to maintain the postharvest quality of fruits and vegetables. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of three types of chitosan-based (CH) edible coatings obtained from medium and high molecular weight chitosan, containing ascorbic or acetic acid and sea buckthorn or grape seed essential oils on the physical–chemical and microbiological properties of organic strawberries and apple slices during cold storage at 4 °C and 8 °C. Scanning electron microscope images showed both a smooth structure and a fracture and pore structure on strawberry coatings and a dense and smooth structure on the apple slices coatings. Further, the edible coatings managed to reduce the microbial load of yeasts and molds of the coated strawberries during the storage period. Overall, the treatments preserved the ascorbic acid, total polyphenol content, and antioxidant activity for all the tested samples compared to the control sample, throughout the storage period. In addition, the water activity (a_w) of the coated samples presented lower values (0.96–0.98) than the control samples. The obtained results indicate that the developed chitosan-based edible coatings could maintain the postharvest parameters of the tested samples, also leading to their shelf-life prolongation.

The food industry nowadays is facing new challenges in terms of sustainability and health implications of packaging and processing techniques. Due to their desire for new and natural products coupled with changes in lifestyle, consumers are looking for food products that have been less processed but possess longer shelf life and maintain nutritional and sensorial proprieties during storage. These requirements represent real challenges when dealing with highly perishable food products, such as fruits and vegetables. Thus, in recent years, edible coatings have been intensively developed and studied because of their capacity to improve the quality, shelf life, safety, and functionality of the treated products. Edible coatings can be applied through different techniques, like dipping, spraying, or coating, in order to control moisture transfer, gas exchange, or oxidative processes. Furthermore, some functional ingredients can be incorporated into an edible matrix and applied on the surface of foods, thus enhancing safety or even nutritional and sensory attributes. In the case of coated fruits and vegetables, their quality parameters, such as color, firmness, microbial load, decay ratio, weight loss, sensorial attributes, and nutritional parameters, which are very specific to the type of products and their storage conditions, should be carefully monitored. This review attempts to summarize recent studies of different edible coatings (polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and composites) as carriers of functional ingredients (antimicrobials, texture enhancers, and nutraceuticals) applied on different minimally processed fruits and vegetables, highlighting the coating ingredients, the application methods and the effects on food shelf life and quality.

The antifungal, antibacterial, and antioxidant activity of four commercial essential oils (EOs) (thyme, clove, rosemary, and tea tree) from Romanian production were studied in order to assess them as bioactive compounds for active food packaging applications. The chemical composition of the oils was determined with the Folin–Ciocâlteu method and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and flame ionization detectors, and it was found that they respect the AFNOR/ISO standard limits. The EOs were tested against three food spoilage fungi—Fusarium graminearum, Penicillium corylophilum, and Aspergillus brasiliensis—and three potential pathogenic food bacteria—Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes—using the disc diffusion method. It was found that the EOs of thyme, clove, and tea tree can be used as antimicrobial agents against the tested fungi and bacteria, thyme having the highest inhibitory effect. Concerning antioxidant activity determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azino-bis 3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) methods, it has been established that the clove oil exhibits the highest activity because of its high phenolic content. Promising results were obtained by their incorporation into chitosan emulsions and films, which show potential for food packaging. Therefore, these essential oils could be suitable alternatives to chemical additives, satisfying the consumer demand for naturally preserved food products ensuring its safety.

The preservation of food represents one of the greatest challenges in the food industry. Active packaging materials are obtained through the incorporation of antimicrobial and/or antioxidant compounds in order to improve their functionality. Further, these materials are used for food packaging applications for shelf-life extension and fulfilling consumer demands for minimal processed foods with great quality and safety. The incorporation of antimicrobial peptides, such as nisin, has been studied lately, with a great interest applied to the food industry. Antimicrobials can be incorporated in various matrices such as nanofibers, nanoemulsions, nanoliposomes, or nanoparticles, which are further used for packaging. Despite the widespread application of nisin as an antimicrobial by directly incorporating it into various foods, the use of nisin by incorporating it into food packaging materials is researched at a much smaller scale. The researchers in this field are still in full development, being specific to the type of product studied. The purpose of this study was to present recent results obtained as a result of using nisin as an antimicrobial agent in food packaging materials, with a focus on applications on products of animal origin. The findings showed that nisin incorporated in packaging materials led to a significant reduction in the bacterial load (the total viable count or inoculated strains), maintained product attributes (physical, chemical, and sensorial), and prolonged their shelf-life.

Phenolic compounds are a widespread group of secondary metabolites found in all plants, representing the most desirable antioxidants due to their potential to be used as additives in the food industry (inhibition of lipid oxidation), and in cosmetology and medicine (protection against oxidative stress). In recent years, demand for the identification of edible sources rich in phenolic antioxidants, as well as the development of new natural plant products to be used as dietary supplements or pharmaceuticals, has been a great preoccupation. At present, from the “circular economy” perspective, there is an increased interest to use agricultural waste resources to produce high-value compounds. Vaccinium leaves and stems are considered essentially an agro-waste of the berry industry. Scientific studies have shown that phenolic compounds were found in a markedly higher content in the leaves and stems of Vaccinium plants than in the fruits, in agreement with the strongest biological and antioxidant activities displayed by these aerial parts compared to fruits. This paper aims to review the current state of the art regarding the phenolic antioxidants from leaves and stems of two wild Vaccinium species, bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.), as promising natural resources with pharmaceutical and biological activity.

Grape seeds are one of the most accessible by-products of the wine industry in large quantities (about 2.4 million t/year). Numerous researchers have shown that grape seeds have a high potential for use as a functional ingredient in the food industry due to their high content of protein, fiber, minerals, and polyphenols. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the possibilities of using grape seed flour (GSF) in the bakery industry from both chemical and rheological points of view. Research shows that grape seed flour contains about 42 times more fiber than wheat flour and approximately 9 times more calcium, 8 times more magnesium, and 2 times more potassium. To assess this potential, four samples of bread from flour mixtures with 3%, 5%, 7%, and 9% (w/w) degree of replacement with GSF were prepared, analyzed, and compared with a control sample from 100% wheat flour. From a rheological point of view, the baking qualities deteriorate: the water absorption capacity (CH) decreases from 58.2% to 55.8%, the dough stability increases from 8.50 min to 9.83 min, the α slope varies from −0.066 Nm/min to −0.104 Nm/min, the β slope increases from 0.576 Nm/min to 0.630 Nm/min, and the γ slope varies from −0.100 Nm/min to −0.198 Nm/min. The sensory analyses performed by the panel of evaluators enclosed the sensorial characteristics of the samples with 3% and 5% GSF between the two control samples made from flour types 480 and 1250. The conclusions show that the sample containing 7% and 9% are unsatisfactory from rheological and sensorial points of view and the samples with 3% and 5% can be considered a fiber source and a Cu source, respectively, and are rich in Zn.